Sens Win! Pynch eats his words...and who's carrying the torch?

Did the Sens review the last ASB post in preparation for tonight's match against the Slugs? In my own personal dream world, I'd like to think so. But in reality, I'll eat my words and give credit where credit's due. If you scroll down, you'll read that I thought Ottawa's lack of offense was due to a lack of confidence in their goaltending. Well, as you saw tonight, Ottawa had their offensive swagger while the BE Keeper made big saves when needed. My own words taste delicious in a divisional win.

Anyways, a few quick thoughts...

- Elliot has 2 shutouts in 4 games. Nice! But don't expect him to keep his starting job once Leclaire is healthy. Snoopy is the better goaltender and constantly gives the forwards that confidence they need (I stand by it). Still, kudos to Elliot for a solid performance.

- Clouston looked once again like the saviour tonight. The typically high scoring and division leading Slugs had few shots and few chances against a system they couldn't solve. Not to knock Spez and Foligno, cause I'm big fans of both, but the Sens made it hard to miss them tonight. Great played, and coached, game all around.

- Breaking it down, our defence was rock solid tonight. Few mistakes and solid execution made Buffalo look like a non-threatening team all night.

- My only issue with tonight's game was scoring. Not offence, but scoring. Offensively, we might have had more chances than any game this season. And not only were the numbers high, but the quality of the chances were huge. The fact that our two goals weren't on their best chances is a little off setting. But, in a night like this, I'll move on and be pleased with the chances we had, those of which I was complaining about not getting 48 hours ago. Plus, I can't overlook that Miller is easily the best goaltender in the NHL this year. I've seen the numbers, but after watching tonight, I'm convinced.

- Take two: our forwards played very effectively tonight. I don't think there was a standout and aside from Ruutu's PIMs, I don't think there is anyone in the bad books. I'm interested to see who our friends at Silver Seven call Sens Zeroes in tonight's game.

- Campoli! A shoutout is deserved (in my humble opinion) to Camps who hasn't played forward since he was 5 or 6, according to him. I tried to watch him with each shift and he didn't seem out of place. Plus, he was able to chip in on the point on the PP. More than that, I also thought he brought a lot of energy to the 4th line. Good job that will hopefully continue as Foligno's out "indefinitely".

- To that point, Winchester and Regin stepped up big tonight in roles where they needed to. The top line is obviously less threatening without Spez, but Winnie played well and looked as if he might gel effectively in the games to come.

In a game where Clouston didn't name names, but said everyone needed to 'be better', we were better. We looked like a team united playing an effective system. Good. Now that we have that solved, let's practice putting the puck in the back of the net. Ok, ok, a bit unfair, but if we play like we did tonight and convert on those chances? I'm very happy.

Now....

Untraditionally, I'd like to quickly comment on an unrelated (slash, it's loosely related) topic in the sports world. On Saturday, Brian Burke will carry the Olympic Torch through Toronto. So, Burke is the Leafs GM. Fine. But he's also the GM of the American Olympic hockey team. Does that seem weird to anyone else but me? Aren't the Olympics in Canada? Aren't Canadians (both athletes and non-athletes) supposed to be honoured as torchbearers ? I'm confused. Please help!

While we'd prefer to read your comments on tonight's Sens game, and please let us hear them, we'd also appreciate any ideas as to the aforementioned torchbearer selection. It's just plain bizarre to me.

And, and, and, and GO!